Mophead having a felted pad wrapped therearound



ay 28, 1968 R. FlNK 3,384,918

MOPHEAD HAVING A FELTED PAD WRAPPED THEREAROUND Filed Nov. 25, 1965 United States Patent 3,334,918 MOPHEAD HAVING A FELTED PAD WRAPPED THEREAROUND Ruth Fink, 1833 Bayview Ave., Apt. 111, Toronto, Ontario, Canada Filed Nov. 23, 1965, Ser. No. 599,350 4 Claims. (Cl. 15-447) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE For a stranded dusting-mophead, disposable wrapping of felted cellulose having a deep flock on one side and a relatively shallow flock on the other, secured to the mophead by the clinging interaction of the mop strands and the deep flock, and by overlap of an end of the deep flock side with the shallow flock side, the external shallow flock side being the working side and having a high dust retaining capacity.

The present invention relates to a product constituting relatively thin sheets of flocculent, felted material, which may be of cellulose, cotton, wool, cotton-wool, or the like preferably having one surface which is slightly-flocked and the other more deeply flocked, which contemplates wrapping such a sheet around the rough, dust adhering sole of a mop or like implement, and preferably with the more deeply flocked surface against the dust adhering sole of the mop, and then, finally, securing the ends of the sheet together against or over the upper side of the sole in sufiicient lapping relationship, such that the sheet will not unwrap and fall off, with the inner, more deeply flocked surface of one end Overlapping the outer, slightly flocked surface of the other end in mutual flock-adherent contact.

It may be added that the overlapping aforesaid would not be necessary were a special mop or sole to be designed against which the upturned side edges of a sheet could be secured. Such securing, it should be understood, is effectively performed by frictional contact between rough and flocculent surfaces. The inventor has however only herein contemplated the adaptation of the present proposal to existing types of mop which are not so provided with rough material upon the flanks thereof, but only such rough material as is constituted by the bunch of fibres or tails constituting the mop per se.

In any event, it is a primary purpose of the invention to provide extremely inexpensive, single-use sheets of the material described which can very readily be adhered to such as a mop, which will wrap tightly thereon so as not to come annoyingly loose at the sides, or bunch up under the sole of the mop, but by contrast, stay flat and planar, then, at the end of the operation be capable of ready separation and without leaving much lint on the mop, for crumpling up and easy discard.

With the foregoing in view, and such other objects, purposes or advantages as may become apparent from consideration of this disclosure and specification, the present invention consists of the inventive concept embodied in the construction, arrangement of parts, as herein particularly exemplified in one or more specific embodiments of such concept, reference being had to the accompanying figures in which:

FIGURE 1 is a side-elevation of a conventional mop to which the present invention is shown attached in fragmentary form.

FIGURE 2 is a plan view of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 3 shows a stack of sheets or leaves with the more deeply flocked surfaces interfacing as between each adjacent pair of leaves.

FIGURE 4 shows a stack of sheets or leaves in which 3,384,918 Patented May 28, 1968 the more heavily flocked side of each one interfaces the slightly flocked surface of the next adjacent one.

FIGURE 5 shows an elongated sheet folded upon itself so that the more deeply flocked side is interfacing, this figure being also intended to indicate the possibility of a stack of such folded sheets in zig-zag superimposition.

FIGURE 6 represents a roll of the material of the present invention.

FIGURE 7 is a fragmentary plan representation of two sheets interfacing upon their deeply flocked surfaces with another two sheets, which pairs of interfacing sheets may also be arranged in row form, zig-zag form or stacked array.

In the drawings like characters of reference designate similar parts in the several figures.

The present invention seeks importantly to eliminate the need for washing mops and for shaking, which is highly undesirable particularly in urban areas, in apartment houses and the like. The contemplated new use of cottonwool in sheets or sheeting from laminae or stacks of the same, or rolls, represents an extremely inexpensive and convenient method of effecting a job of floor or furnituresurface dusting in which the retentivity of the dust is gratifyingly high, and in which the dusting element, the flocculent sheet serves to compact in a new and ingenious manner, the floppy and untidy (hence ineflicient), spidery array of mop fibres or tails, into a neat and soft pad, wrapped by the sheet of herein described material.

In FIGURE 1 there is shown a conventional mop head collectively designated 10 with the usual array of twisted strings, fibres or tails 11 secured thereto. Around such a mop is wrapped the invented sheet, or felted pad generally designated 12.

The sheeting as such of which a portion 12 thereof has been designated as a pad, will preferably be in one of several forms, desirably of such width that it can be conveniently wrapped and overlapped with respect to mop 10 as in FIGURES 1 and 2. Thus, referring for example to FIGURE 3, it is to be recognized that the sheets 13, 14, 15, and 16 may be separate sheets arranged in the pile as shown, or may be arranged in superposed array as in FIGURE 4, or in the folded array of FIGURE 5. As shown in the last mentioned figure, the sheets may be piled in zig-zag fashion as indicated by the partial sheet 17.

Considering a sheet or portion of the same as for example that designated 18 in FIGURE 4, it will be seen that the same comprises a sheet of what is known as cotton-wool, or any other material having the same surface characteristics. Such sheet has a felted body 19 (to preserve it against disintegration). On one side of this body is a shallow or slightly flocked surface 20, and on the other side a more deeply flocked surface 21.

In wrapping a sheet around the shoe 22 of mop 10, the slightly flocked surface should be the external surface, and the more deeply flocked surface should be the interior surface 23 of FIGURES l and 2. Thus these more deeply flocked surfaces will preferably, as a rule, be the ones which adhere to the sole 24, or ground contacting surface of the bunch of strands or mop fibres 11. As a result a pad engages the strand so as to adhere very adequately to the mop, and in overlapping relationship to the slightly flocked surface portion 25.

In FIGURE 6 there is illustrated a roll 26 of the sheeting as invented for its presently described use. Although the deeply flocked side 21 is interior, if desired it may be exterior, and in this case it should be understood that at intervals such as indicated by numerals 27, 28, the roll may be semi-separated as at 29 of FIGURE 7, in the axial planes of roll 21 for ease of separation into leaves.

Finally, the sheets may be rolled in pairs, as at 30 and 31 of FIGURE 7 wherein it is intended to indicate that the deeply flocked surfaces 32 are interfacing but this need not necessarily be the case. Paired laminae, such as that of FIGURE 7 may be packaged in roll form or fiat and peeled apart as illustrated with optimum ease and separated along the aforesaid line of weakness or semiseparation 29.

The inventor is aware only of the proposal for a steel Wool pad in Dyers U.S. Patent 2,093,268, issued Sept. 14, 1937 in relation to the inventive proposals of this specification. In that patent, sheet steel wool is shown wrapped upon itself into pad form in realization that the tangled, felted steel wool will hold its shape as illustrated in FIG- URES 1 and 3 of the patent. However, it is not believed that the proposal of Dyer anticipates the invention which is herein described.

Since various modifications can be made to the invention herein described within the scope of the inventive concept disclosed, it is not intended that protection of the said invention should be interpreted as restricted to the modification or modifications or known parts of such concept as particularly described, defined or exemplified, since this disclosure is intended to explain the construction and operation of such concept and is not for the purpose of limiting protection to any specific embodiment or details thereof.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. For use in combination with mopheads (19) formed of strands (11), a felted pad (12) having a deep flock (21) on one side, and a relatively shallow flock (20) on the other side, said pad being wrapped around said mophead with said strands engaging the flock on one side of said pad, and with the ends of said pad in overlapping and mutual flock-adherent contact.

2. The pad according to claim 1 in which the deep flock engages said strands.

3. In combination, a mophead (10) formed of strands, and a felted pad (12) having a deep fiock (21) on one side, and a relatively shallow flock (20) on the other side, said pad being wrapped around said mophead with said strands engaging the flock on one side of said pad, and with the ends of said pad in overlapping and mutual flockadherent contact.

4. The pad according to claim 3 in which the deep flock engages said strands.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,651,535 12/1927 McDermott 28-72.2 2,381,590 8/1945 Hcaton 16164X 2,523,909 9/1950 Kreidler 15209 2,916,759 12/1959 Smith l5-247 2,919,457 1/1960 Cole 15-231 3,075,222 1/1963 Miller 15209 DANIEL BLUM, Primary Examinen 

